LAS VEGAS--Bethesda's Elder Scrolls games have typically been long in development--but then, nobody would accuse the RPG developer of creating shallow games. Today at CES we got a brief look at Oblivion, the fourth game in the long-running series and the first hardcore role-playing game to hit the Xbox 360. Though it looks as though Bethesda has put effort into giving the game a more focused experience, longtime fans should take heart that Oblivion will purportedly feature the same massive world and freedom of exploration that marked the last game, Morrowind.

　　In fact, Oblivion apparently has a quantifiable scope: 16 square miles. That might not sound like much in real-world terms, but moving across such a space at a typical game character's run speed would take far more time than most players would care to sit through. Luckily, the game will let you move between previously visited locations (via an unspecified warping mechanic of some sort) at greater-than-normal speed. Of course, getting there is half the fun, and like its predecessor, Oblivion will reportedly contain numerous optional side quests that you can undertake even as you pursue the game's core storyline.

　　But enough about raw numbers. How does it play? A lot like Morrowind, in that you'll run around in first-person perspective, actively hacking at enemies while the RPG stat-crunching happens transparently. Refer to our X05 hands-on of Oblivion for a more in-depth description of the game's introductory sequences. At CES, we got to jump to a point much further in the game, set amid those lovely forests Bethesda has been so fond of showing off since the game's release. A quick jaunt through the woods revealed a set of ruins, in which we found a staircase leading down into a dim dungeon of some sort.

　　What else would a good adventurer do but explore such a tomb? We were immediately confronted by a number of ghostly looking spirits accompanied by a couple of armed, animated skeletons. Naturally, the frost sword we were wielding was largely ineffectual against the undead--but we were able to pop up a radial weapon-select menu with the D pad and switch to a fireball spell that dispatched these enemies with far greater effectiveness. We also had a spell that could summon our own undead familiar, making for a satisfying little bit of skeleton-on-skeleton violence.

　　Plunging further into the crypt, we discovered a wide-open area that contained some treasure for us to collect, as well as some hidden dangers. Stepping onto the wrong tile sent us directly up at a set of spikes embedded in the ceiling, though we merely lost a bunch of hit points for the error, rather than being killed instantly. The game seems to strike a good balance between such action-oriented elements and typical RPG-style equipment management and number crunching, and we're eager to see more of the adventure to see what else is in store.

　　Oblivion continues to impress us with its lavishly crafted visuals, which seem to retain the same fidelity on the Xbox 360 that we've seen in previously released media taken from the PC version. The frame rate was consistent if a little choppy in the build we played, though Bethesda has plenty of time to continue optimizing in advance of the game's release in late March. We'll bring you further details before that time.